PS Audio Multiwave 2 Owners manual

Table of Contents

What’s in the Box

1....What’s in the Box

2....Warning

2....Safety Instructions

2....Overview

3....Installing the Upgrade

6....Testing the Power Plant

6....MultiWave II Operation

7....MultiWave II Waveforms

7....Servo System

8....Warranty and Service Issues

8....Contact Information

• One MultiWave II oscillator board

• One display microchip

• One chip puller

• One plastic dentist mirror

• One anti-static wrist strap

• One instruction booklet

• One MultiWave II silver sticker

IMPORTANT:
Be sure to save all packing materials
included with the MultiWave II upgrade kit if
you wish to ship the original oscillator card
back to PS Audio for recycling.

1

Warning

To prevent fire or shock hazard, do not
expose the MultiWave II kit to rain or
moisture. To avoid electrical shock, the
Power Plant must be unplugged and fully
discharged before opening.

fans should not be used with MultiWave II.
This equipment must be used with 60Hz sin
mode.

We recommend the use of the sine Wave
[sin], or TubeWave™ [tub] with any type of
tube based audio products.

To prevent electric shock, use a 3 prong,
grounded type power cable.

Any change or modifications not expressly
approved in the manual could void your
warranty.

Safety Instructions

General Instruction:

Read the operating instructions provided
with your MultiWave II kit.

If the Power Plant is powered on with the
oscillator card inserted backwards, the
Power Plant will require service from an
authorized PS Audio dealer.

Retain the operating instructions for later
use and reference

Completely discharge the Power Plant
before opening the chassis by unplugging
the unit for at least 12 hours.

Unplug the Power Plant from the wall outlet
before changing the fuse or performing any
upgrade or service.

Do not operate the Power Plant near water.
Avoid placement near a water reservoir or
excessive moisture.

When replacement parts are required, be
sure they are specified by the manufacturer
to have the same characteristics as the orig­inal. Unauthorized substitutions may result
in fire, electric shock, or other hazards.

Overview

Read the entire instruction manual
before starting the installation.

The benefits the Multiwave II upgrade kit will
provide for your power plant are:

• MultiWave II and TubeWave waveforms.

• More accurate sine wave generation.

• Lower distortion

• Servo control system for consistent DC
output over time.

The MultiWave II upgrade is a fairly simple
process. If you have any questions at any
time, please contact your dealer, distributor
or PS Audio by e-mail, fax or telephone at
the numbers listed at the end of the instruc­tions.

The steps necessary to install MultiWave II:

1. Remove the input power cable from the

rear of the power plant.

2. On the P300, remove the bottom cover.

On the P600/P1200, remove the top cover.

3. Pull the socketed oscillator board out.

4. Remove display microchip.

5. Install new display microchip.

6. Insert the new oscillator board.

7. Replace the bottom cover or the top

cover, depending on your model.

8. You are done.

Do not operate with faulty or frayed power
cables.

MultiWave II™ operation:

Any turntable or equipment with AC
synchronous motors, such as some cooling

2

Installing the Upgrade

Before beginning the upgrade, you will need
to do the following:

main board and instead stays attached to
the gray plastic support. If this is the case,
simply remove the card from the support
and set it aside.

The Night Before

Unplug the Power
Plant the night
before you plan to
do the upgrade.
Really unplug it!
Take out the input
power cable and
take out all the power cables connecting
to your a/v equipment. By letting the Power
Plant sit overnight, most of the energy stored
in the power supply will drain away.

The Day of the Upgrade

Assemble the following tools in your work
area:

• A clean table to place the Power Plant
while you are working.

• For the P300 - a #2 Phillips head screw­driver. For the P600/P1200 - A 7/64” Allen
wrench.

• A desk lamp, gooseneck lamp or other light
placed next to the Power Plant so you can
see what you are doing.

• The MultiWave II Upgrade Kit.

Before opening the Power Plant

• Ensure it is fully unplugged

• Ensure it has been unplugged from
the wall for at least 12 hours.

Disassembly - P300

Turn the P300 upside down, with the feet
facing up. Use the screwdriver to take out
the 10 small screws holding on the bottom
plate of the P300. Note: You do not need to
remove the screws holding down the feet to
the bottom cover of the P300.

After you take off the ten screws from the
bottom cover, carefully and slowly lift the
bottom cover straight off. You may notice
some slight resistance. The oscillator card
in the P300 is secured by a small gray
plastic bracket on the inside of the bottom
cover. Note: some P300’s may not have this
plastic bracket.

If your P300
has a fan kit
there will be a
wire connect­ing the bottom
plate to the
inside of the
chassis. Trace
the wire back
to the bottom circuit board and remove the
connector by pressing in on the side clips
and gently pulling the connector out of the
plug labeled J9. Set the bottom plate aside.

Disassembly - P600/P1200

Keep the P600/
P1200 upright
so you have
easy access to
the top. Use an
Allen wrench
to remove the
Allen screws
affixing the top
cover of the P600/P1200. Remove the top
cover and set it aside.

Removing the old oscillator card - P300

Grab the card by the edges and lift straight
up to remove. Do not rock the card back and
forth to remove it! Set it aside.

Removing the old oscillator card - P600/
1200

Do not remove
the screws
that attach the
oscillator card
to the mother­board (bottom
circuit board).

Remove the two screws and nuts holding
the oscillator board to the L-brackets.

Grab the card by the edges and lift straight
up to remove. Do not rock the card back and
forth to remove it! Set it aside.

Usually, the oscillator card will stay plugged
into the P300 main board. Sometimes, the
oscillator card gets unplugged from the

Removing the old front panel display
microchip

First locate the front panel display board.

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This is the circuit board that is screwed to

two prongs of the chip puller between the

the Power Plant’s front panel.

Locate the
chip puller
enclosed with
the MultiWave
II package. The
chip puller will
be used to care­fully remove the
old microchip.
Notice the chip puller has
two small prongs. Put the

chip and the socket on the left and right side.
There is a small gap between the chip and
the socket for you to insert the prongs of the
chip puller. It may take a little wiggling of the
chip puller to get its prongs under the chip.

Squeeze the chip puller together and pull
the microchip straight out of its socket. It
may take a tug. Pull straight back. When the
old microchip pops out of its socket, lay it
out of the way.

Great work. You are almost done. Take
a break.

Take this time to attach the anti-static wrist
strap to your wrist by wrapping the clear
sticky end around your wrist like a bracelet.
Remove the adhesive strip from the copper
tail and attach it to an exposed aluminium
surface inside the Power Plant chassis.

Installing the new front panel display
microchip

Carefully open the sealed end of the silver
anti-static bag (you are wearing your wrist
strap now, aren’t you?). Carefully remove
the new processor chip from the silver bag.
The chip is pressed to a small piece of black
foam. This special foam protects the chip
from static. Do not remove the chip from

the antistatic foam at this time.

rear of the unit, this dot must face to the
RIGHT on the P600/P1200 and the LEFT on
the P300. Note:
Some P600 mod­els may have the
display microchip
aligned verti­cally with the half
moon and white
dot facing UP.

Now, carefully use your fingers to pull the
chip straight out of the black protective
foam. Yep, you can use the chip puller for
this if you like. The key is pulling the chip
straight out of the foam so that we do not
bend any of the little legs.

After you pull the chip out of the foam, lay
it so it rests on its legs on top of the black
foam. It will look a lot like a bug - a healthy
bug with straight legs. If any of the legs are
not straight, use a finger nail to straighten
it.

Do not rush the next step. Please read
this next section again before you go on.
Do you have a light shining inside the Power
Plant? Is it well lit? Do you have your read­ing glasses on? Just checking.

You are going
to next insert
the chip into
the socket. Do
this by grasping
the small sides
of the chip with
your thumb and
forefinger. Now,
carefully line up the legs of the chip with the
holes in the socket. BE VERY CAREFUL.
Only lightly press the chip into the socket
at this time - just enough for the socket to
hold the chip. You just want to get the legs
started. Do not press hard on the chip at
this time.

Notice that the
chip has a “half
moon” on one
side. There is
also a white dot
to help iden­tify the direction.
Looking from the

Now make sure each leg of the microchip
is inserted in the corresponding socket
hole. That’s what the little dentist’s mirror

is for. You should be able to see the pins
on the top of the socket with your eye. The
dentist mirror will help with the lower set of
pins.

4

When you are
sure that each
leg of the micro­chip is straight
and lined up
correctly, press
the microchip
down into the
socket. The
chip will seat almost flush into the socket.

Now, use the
mirror again
to inspect the
microchip and
socket. The
microchip must
be flush in the
socket and no
pins should be
bent or coming out of the socket.

WHEW! That was the tricky part. You are
well on your way to becoming a certified PS
Audio technician!

Time for another break - Listen to some
music. Oh, sorry, forgot your system was
unplugged while you are upgrading!

We are coasting to the finish now.

Installing the new oscillator board

Read this entire section before you
attempt to replace the oscillator board.

Now take the new oscillator board from
silver anti-static bag. Be careful to only
touch the edges of the new board. Notice
the printed warning on the top of the board
indicating which side of the board must face
the front panel. The new board must only be
inserted in the correct direction.

The electronic
components on
the new oscilla­tor board must
face forward,
toward the
faceplate of the
Power Plant.
Never insert the
oscillator board so that the electronic com­ponents face to the rear of the Power Plant.
Insert the new oscillator board into its socket

on the Power Plant’s main board by pushing
straight down. Do not rock the card back
and forth. Insert it straight. The board must
not be inserted at an angle.

If you are working on a P600 or a P1200,
replace the two small screws and nuts that
hold the oscillator board in place.

Inspect your work

You are almost done!

Carefully inspect you work one more time
before you button up. The items you want
to check will be:

• The new microchip on the front panel
display board is inserted correctly. Use that
mirror if you need to!

• The new oscillator board is fully inserted
with the electronic components facing the
front of the Power Plant.

• If the Power Plant is powered on with
the oscillator card inserted backwards,
the Power Plant will require service from
an authorized PS Audio dealer.

Replace the bottom cover - P300

If your P300 has a fan, reattach the fan wire
to the main board. It should be reconnected
to plug J9. The connector will only fit on in
one direction as the plugs are U-shaped.

Before reinstalling the bottom cover of the
P300, notice the gray support strip on the
inside of the bottom cover. The groove in
this support strip aligns with the edge of the
oscillator board. Replace the bottom cover
of the P300. Align the top of the oscillator
board with the groove in the gray support
strip. When they are aligned, press down
on the bottom cover. It will snap into place
when properly aligned. Sorry, the trusty den­tists mirror will not help you here.

In the case of the support strip not being
attached to the bottom cover, simply attach
the support strip to the top edge of the
oscillator card before replacing the bottom
cover.

Replace the screws in the bottom cover.

5

Replace the top cover - P600/P1200

Line the top cover up against the front bezel
of the Power Plant. This should help in lining
up the Allen screw holes.

Replace the Allen screws in the top cover.

Place the MultiWave II sticker on the back
of your Power Plant

Testing the Power Plant

To make sure everything is tip-top, perform
the following tests:

• Plug the Power Plant into a power source.
Do not plug anything into the back of the unit
at this time.

• If you have a P300 ensure the back panel
switch is on. Up is ON.

• Next, press the front panel power switch.
The Power Plant front panel should indicate
[Sin] If it does, the Power Plant is fully
operational and you are now a certified PS
Audio MultiWave II upgrade installer. We
are proud of you, but you may want to keep
your day job.

• Don’t forget to remove the anti-static wrist
strap before leaving you work area.

YOU’RE DONE! Really. But keep that den­tist mirror close by. Who knows what micro­chips or teeth might need inspecting.

NOW, hold on to your favorite listening chair
and experience MultiWave II. We are quite
sure you will be as amazed as we were the
first time we listened.

If you have any questions about the instal­lation process, stop and contact us. We are
here to help.

If you wish to send back the old MultiWave
oscillator card to PS Audio for recycling, you
can simply package the card in its original
packaging and send it to the address at the
end of the manual.

MultiWave II Operation

Notice of MultiWave II operation:

Any turntable or equipment with AC
synchronous motors, such as some cooling
fans should not be used with MultiWave
patterns. This type of equipment must be
used with 60Hz sin mode.

We recommend the use of the sine wave
[sin], or TubeWave™ [tub] with any type of
tube based audio products.

There are five available display modes on
the front panel of the Power Plant. The
Mode button will cycle through the following
five modes:

1. Waveform setting

2. Frequency generated (sin mode only)

3. Voltage produced

4. Wattage produced

5. Display blanking mode

Waveform setting

This mode will display the name of the
waveform presently being generated.
For more information about each of the
MultiWave settings, see the Multiwave II
Waveforms section of the manual.

Frequency generated

The frequency setting will only be displayed
if the Waveform menu is set to Sin.

This mode will display the frequency the
Power Plant is generating. The frequency
can be adjusted in 1 hertz increments from
50Hz to 120Hz by using the Up and Down
buttons. The default setting is 60Hz.

Voltage produced

This mode will display the output voltage of
the Power Plant. Note: the voltage figure
will be flashing. The output voltage can be
adjusted in 1 volt increments by using the
Up and Down buttons. The range varies
depending on the Power Plant model:

• 100 volt model ranges from 95 - 105 v.
Default setting is 100 volts.

• 120 volt model ranges from 100 - 120 v.
Default setting is 117 volts.

• 240 volt model ranges from 220 - 240 v.
Default setting is 240 volts.
(adjustments in 2 volt increments)

6

As long as the voltage to the Power Plant
does not deviate more than 10% below
normal it will continue to output the voltage
displayed on the front panel.

Wattage produced

This mode will display, in real-time, the
approximate wattage the Power Plant is
generating. Complex loads may not register
accurately on the Power Plant's meter. For
true power consumption figures consult the
owners manual of the connected product.

Under normal operation a green LED will
illuminate. A yellow LED will indicate a
heavy load and is not recommeded for
continous operation. A red LED indicates an
overload or fault mode.

Display Blanking

This mode allows discrete front panel
operation by blanking the display. The PS
logo will continue to illuminate in blue to
indicate that the unit is operational.

MultiWave II Waveforms

[sin] sine wave

In the sine wave mode the Power Plant will
generate a perfect sine wave (50-120Hz).

[tub] TubeWave

TubeWave is specifically designed to opti­mize the performance of tube based audio
products.

[P-2] MultiWave2

MultiWave2 is a 60Hz sine wave that
incorporates a pseudorandom collection
of frequencies which are dithered from 55­65Hz.

Using this slightly random frequency
deviation is similar to adding dither on a
digital audio source. Power supply dithering
can lower the perceived noise floor and help
remove apparent glare on the audio signal.

[P-3] MultiWave3

MultiWave3 is a combination of Multiwave1
with a slight degree of 3rd harmonic addition
(MultiWave1).

Try this setting and see how the audio
sounds and the video looks. All systems
can respond differently to each MultiWave
pattern.

[P-4] MultiWave4

MultiWave4 is full combination of
MultiWave1 and MultiWave2. It generates
a pseudorandom collection of frequencies,
however instead of generating sine waves
it generates the same waveform as
MultiWave1.

Again, try these setting on your system to
see which one has the highest perceived
benefit in terms of performance.

Servo System

TubeWave uses the same pseudorandom
generation of frequencies as MultiWave2
waveform, however it generates more tube­friendly frequencies.

[P-1] MultiWave1

MultiWave1 is a single 60Hz sine wave
with a minute amount of 3rd Harmonic
sine waves mixed together to form a
single partial square MultiWave. This is an
improved version of PS2 from the original
MultiWave™ series.

The partial square wave setting improves
the power supply’s ability to charge the
capacitors in equipment by extending the
length of time available to "top off" the
capacitors' voltage. Use this setting to
enhance the performance of both source
and power equipment.

The MultiWave II upgrade kit provides a
virtual Servo System to continually correct
for any DC offset. This will reduce hum from
problematic or sensitive transformers as the
Power Plant produces pure AC waveforms
indefinitely without the need for calibration.

7

Warranty inside the U.S. and

Canada

PS Audio’s warranty is 3 years parts and
labor, from the date of original purchase.
This means that we warranty the product
itself regardless of ownership, new or used.

Warranty outside the U.S. and

Canada

PS Audio has authorized distribution in
many countries of the
world. In each country,
the authorized importing
retailer or distributor has
accepted the responsibility
for warranty of products
sold by that retailer or
distributor. Warranty
service should normally be
obtained from the importing
retailer or distributor from
whom you purchased the
product. In the unlikely
event of service required
beyond the capability of
the importer, PS Audio will
fulfill the conditions of the
warranty. Such product

must be returned at the owner’s expense to
the PS Audio factory. Contact your PS Audio
distributor or the PS Audio customer service
department for more information.

Service issues

Should your unit ever require service or if
you have any technical questions about the
MultiWave II kit, you must either contact
your dealer (PS Audio if purchased direct)
or your PS Audio distributor. No equipment

will be received at our
service facilities without an
attached RA number.

If purchased through
an authorized PS Audio
dealer or distributor, the
RA number must be
obtained by the dealer or
distributor. If the product
was purchased from PS
Audio direct, this can
easily be obtained by
contacting PS Audio at:
E-mail ­[e-mail]
Phone - 720.406.8946
Fax - 720.406.8967

PS Audio International, Inc.

4824 Sterling Dr.

Boulder, CO 80301 USA

Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

www.psaudio.com

8